The modern world's understanding of American university press has long been shaped by university-press books. American university-press books are good international advertisements for the universities whose logos grace their spines. The growth of transnational scholarship and the expansion of digital communications networks are converging in ways…

This article highlights the rationale for Namibia's participation in three studies which were conducted under the auspices of the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) during the period 1995-2007. The article provides some of the innovative ways in which the results of the first (SACMEQ I, 1995) and…

Unemployment has topped 7% nationally and economists predict it will approach 10% by 2010. Child care programs experience a trickle-down effect: when businesses cut back hours or lay people off, parents cut back child care hours or pull children from programs. "We're seeing more and more families lose their child care assistance and have nowhere…

Keystone Science School and Keystone Center for Science and Public Policy programs blend learning in the natural world with developing mediation and conflict resolution skills. Since 2004, these two divisions of The Keystone Center in Colorado have partnered with the National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools of Mathematics, Science and…

Distance education in its many forms had been around for decades, but the Western Governors University (WGU) was arguably the first "virtual university" (VU) in the United States, or at least the first VU that gained widespread attention from the press and public. After the governors in the Western Governors Association announced they would create…

Discusses the EBSCO decision to stop its traditional commercial document delivery business. High prices for copyright clearance, government subsidized services, electronic formats available on the Internet, Web-based services, and consortium-based licensing activities are discussed as influencing the market for document delivery. (LRW)

Outlines the economic factors that influence the development of standards, noting that standards may develop through market mechanisms, organizations that combine market participants, and government guidance. Each of these mechanisms may produce desirable outcomes or distort them, depending on market structure, chance, historical events, and costs…

Examines the role of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the development of the National Information Infrastructure (NII). Highlights include the standards process; voluntary standards; Open Systems Interconnection problems; Internet Protocol Suite; consortia; government's role; and network security. (16 references) (LRW)

Describes the Ohioview Research Consortium, composed of university libraries and government agencies, which was formed to promote the low-cost distribution of government civilian satellite data for public use. Discusses the strong leadership role that the university library component has been called upon to play. (LRW)

Describes GAELIC (Gauteng and Environs Library Consortium), the largest academic library consortium in South Africa. Formed in response to conditions in higher education and the need to become more cost effective, GAELIC is working to overcome the effects of the previous government's discriminatory approach through resource sharing and…

Discusses information and communication technology in South African academic libraries in the context of the post-apartheid period which consists of a technologically sophisticated sector and an underdeveloped Third World Sector. Topics include academic library consortia; connectivity; information literacy; human resource development; and…

Traces the development of computerization of library operations in Singapore from 1970 to 1989. Highlights include the role of the Ministry of Finance; institutional computerization; consortiums; the Singapore Integrated Library Automation Service (SILAS), a national network whose main function is to provide online shared cataloging; and access to…

Describes new government and social policies that could create an environment conducive to the effective use of technology in special education. Focuses on a national strategy based partially on a study titled "Computer Use in Education" conducted by Education TURNKEY Systems for the National Commission on Employment Policy. (JN)

The careers of George N. Rainsford, president of Kalamazoo College, and John T. Bernhard, president of Western Michigan University, and their commitment to institutional cooperation are described. Government control over institutions, the Kalamazoo Consortium, and private-public cooperation at the local, state, and national levels are discussed.…

This brief historical overview of developments in the field of educational technology describes the role of Michigan State University in bringing about significant change in higher education, and the formation and functioning of the University Consortium for Instructional Development and Technology, its Development Institutes program, Behavioral…